United States: EEOC And Mexican Consulates Team Up To Provide Guidance, Training, And Even Checks

What started as a local effort has now become a national endeavor, as
the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
and the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs officially agree to
join forces to create programs that will benefit both Mexican
nationals working in the United States as well as their
employers.

On August 29, Jacqueline Berrien, the Chair of the EEOC, and
Eduardo Mora, the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico, signed a national Memorandum of Understanding (MOU),
committed to strengthening outreach on workplace rights, as well as
reducing violations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of
1964; the Pregnancy Discrimination Act; the Equal Pay Act of 1963;
the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; Title I of the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990; and the Genetic
Information Non-discrimination Act of 2008. In particular,
the MOU focuses on the harms addressed by the laws and regulations
that are administered and enforced by the EEOC.

Perhaps the most interesting element of the MOU is a proposed
system through which compensation collected by the EEOC from
"responsible employers" in the US can be routed to
Mexican nationals who have returned to Mexico. The EEOC will
provide identifying information to the Mexican Consulate, who will
then pass the baton to their counterparts in Mexico to contact
these former employees. If and when the Mexican government succeeds
in reaching an employee owed compensation, the EEOC will then route
a check from the former employer to the worker, with the help of
the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Notably, the MOU describes
this system as a goal – not a mandate – making its
potential effectiveness and impact on both employers and workers
difficult to evaluate at such an early stage.

The centerpiece of the MOU is a commitment to an educational
program that combines outreach to employers and workers with the
training of consulate staff by the EEOC. The EEOC aims to provide
guidance to the Mexican national community both inside our
neighboring country's local consulates as well as in other
"appropriate forums" that will better reach both the
working Mexican national, as well as the person employing him or
her. The MOU also focuses on promoting dialogue on employment
discrimination and equal employment opportunity, the EEOC's
bread and butter.

The EEOC is not the first nor the only American agency to engage
in such an endeavor with the Mexican Ministry of Foreign
Affairs. As we previously reported, the U.S. Department of Labor
(DOL) recently announced that the DOL's Wage & Hour
Division, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) reached
workplace protection agreements with several Mexican consulates in
Arizona to encourage immigrant workers to report workplace
problems. OSHA and the DOL entered into such agreements with
the Mexican consulates in Phoenix, Tucson, Yuma, Nogales, and
Douglas. The NLRB entered into an agreement with the Mexican
consulate in Phoenix.

An agreement to increase education and awareness regarding the
rights of workers in the United States, regardless of nationality,
could impact not only the workers but the employers who are tasked
with creating a compliant workplace in an already convoluted legal
system. Ultimately, we will not know the reach of the effects until
we see how seriously the two governments take the goals established
in the MOU. What we do know, however, is that employers – no
matter what happens – will be paying attention.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.

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